Q3 2021 Media & Marketing Industry Trends

Q3 2021 Key Highlights

Seven of the industry’s top ten highest value deals year-to-date were completed by strategic acquirers.

There were 136 financially sponsored transactions in the 1st 3 Quarters of 2021 with an aggregate value of $27 billion, representing 17 percent of the total volume and 31 percent of the total value, respectively.

Q3 2021 Key Trends

Total transaction volume in the 1st 3 Quarters of 2021 declined by 15 percent over the 1st 3 Quarters of 2020, from 944 to 806.

Total transaction value in the 1st 3 Quarters of 2021 increased by 55 percent over the 1st 3 Quarters of 2020, from $56.2 billion to $87.1 billion.

The digital marketing subsector saw a five percent rise in volume in the 1st 3 Quarters of 2021 over the 1st 3 Quarters of 2020, from 177 to 185 transactions.

Multiples & Value Trends

The median revenue multiple on a year-over-year basis rose by 32 percent, from 2.2x to 2.9x.

The median EBITDA multiple on a year-over-year basis remained about constant, shifting slightly from 10.8x to 11.0x.

Top Ten Deals Through Q3 2021

The top ten deals by value have seen three new additions since our half year report. Two of these three deals occurred in the Entertainment segment: Netmarble’s announced acquisition of SpinX Games, a mobile casino game developer, for $2.2 billion; and Penn National Gaming’s announced acquisition of theScore, a digital media and sports betting company, for $1.8 billion.

These three transactions, with an aggregate value of $7.1 billion, represented eight percent of transaction value in the 1st 3 Quarters of 2021 and 38 percent of Q3 2021 transaction value.